› added 13 years ago

286

TIL that ostriches sometimes kill lions instead of trying to outrun them.

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Y5Bv TIL Braille was originally developed as ‘Sonography’, a means for French spies in the Napoleonic Wars to communicate without the use of light. Louis Braille would later point out the flaws in the original code, creating the version we use today.
0x0L TIL Gene Wilder came up with the idea for Young Frankenstein and pitched it to Mel Brooks on the set of Blazing Saddles.
DQVV TIL Pirate Bay supporters sent $5,000 of flowers to a professor that defended TPB in court, to give to his wife
8wmZ TIL in 1953, the City of Niagara Falls bought a plot of land called “Love Canal” for $1 from a chemical company that had used the area as a dump. Despite warnings from the company, a school was built on the land. From 1974–1978, 56% of children in the area were born with birth defects.
a81gZ TIL: Saudia Flight 163 safely landed after a fire broke out onboard shortly after takeoff. But despite the successful landing, all 301 passengers and crew perished.